Al-Qaida is recruiting suicide bombers who are infected with the AIDS virus, according to Britain's Sunday Mirror.
The newspaper reported that terror chiefs are also targeting fanatics who suffer other lethal blood diseases such as hepatitis and dengue fever in order to increase their "kill rate" from an explosion. The chilling new threat is revealed in papers distributed to British military camps in Iraq and across Europe.
Under the heading "HIV/Hepatitis" the document states: "There is evidence that terrorists might be deliberately recruiting volunteers with diseases that are spread by blood transference."
Experts have found that bones and other blood-spattered fragments from a suicide bomber could penetrate the skin of a victim more than 50 yards away and infect them.
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According to the Mirror, in the papers soldiers are warned to wear special protective clothing when on guard duty or if they have to deal with casualties in the event of an attack.
A British defense spokesman confirmed that bases had been made aware of the new threat.